QC city of the future – Bautista

MANILA, Philippines - Re-elected Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista promised to work even harder for his constituents as he starts today his second term as the chief executive of what he dubbed as “the city of the future.”

“Quezon City is touted to be the country’s premier city where dreams and aspirations come true,” he said during his inaugural address yesterday at the Quezon Memorial Circle. “We are a city filled with promise and vast potential.”

Bautista – together with re-elected Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte and fourth district congressman Speaker Feliciano Belmonte – led local officials during their oath taking before Court of Appeals Associate Justice Ma. Elisa Sempio Diy. Diy, a former Quezon City trial court judge, administered the oath of all 44 elected officials of the city.

In his speech, Bautista promised to further improve the services offered by the local government through projects that seek to empower the city’s residents.

“We shall endeavor to raise the bar of service to the people a rung higher,” he said, citing his administration’s plans to revise its revenue code to make it easier for people to establish businesses in the city.

“We will not allow the rich to become richer, and the poor to become poorer,” the mayor said in Filipino.

“This government will serve as a bridge that will help those who want to have secure jobs where they can use their skills and abilities,” he added.

Bautista bared his plans to provide employment for the city’s huge manpower, as well as the development of waste-to-energy facilities to utilize the tons of garbage that are being collected in the city every day.

The mayor also promised innovations such as the use of light-emitting diodes for streetlights, and the use of information technology to speed up transactions at the city hall.

Relocation

Bautista also reiterated his administration’s commitment to relocate informal settler families who are living in danger zones.

The local government earlier gave residents living near waterways until July 30 to voluntarily leave their shanties. “The local government will not hesitate to enforce the law against those who are protecting professional squatters,” he said.

Bautista called on local officials and residents to work with the city government to achieve his administration’s plans for the city.

Social services for all

Meanwhile, Vice Mayor Belmonte said the city council will work for the passage of a number of legislative measures to provide additional social services for the city’s residents.

“Anti-poverty concerns are very close to my heart,” Belmonte said in an interview following the oath taking. “We want to have legislation for informal sectors to review what they are currently getting and perhaps give them more benefits.”

Belmonte also promised measures that will standardize the low rates in city’s health centers and hospitals, as well as the passage of an ordinance that will strengthen the city’s campaign against illegal drugs.

“We are trying to approach the perspective of sectoral needs,” she said, noting measures that will benefit persons with disabilities and senior citizens.

She also noted measures that seek to boost the city’s tourism and protect its environment.

Belmonte will preside over the city council, which will be composed of 36 elected members from the city’s six districts. The number is twelve more than the previous council following the creation of two new legislative districts in the city.

Aside from the elected councilors, two ex-officio members representing barangay captains and the youth will join the city council.

Sangguniang Kabataan president John Ansell de Guzman will retain his seat, while the Liga ng Barangay is set to elect its president this month.

Former Barangay Batasan Hills chairman Ranulfo Ludovica, who served as an ex-officio member in the previous council, vacated his post after he was elected as a councilor in the city’s second district.